[Combination therapy of high dose doxifluridine (5'-DFUR)+mitomycin C (MMC) for advanced or recurrent colorectal cancer. Joint Research Group in the Osaka Area for Combination Therapy of 5'-DFUR with Other Drugs].

A co-study was conducted on treatment with high dose 5'DFUR+MMC in order to determine its effectiveness as a systemic chemotherapy in patients with advanced and recurrent colorectal cancers. The treatment schedule included 5'-DFUR given orally at a dose of 1,600 mg/body/day for five consecutive days, a two-day discontinuation, then repeated medication with the above, and MMC injected intravenously at a dose of 6 mg/m2 once every four weeks. One course consisted of four weeks, and courses were repeated as long as tolerated by the patients. Twenty-nine patients were registered for the study and 28 cases were perfectly capable of anti-tumor responses. The response rate was 25.5%, including: CR, 2; PR, 5; NC, 11; and PD, 10 cases. Responding cases were found in metastases to the lung, cervical lymph node and abdominal wall. Response rate was especially high in pulmonary metastases at 41.7% (5/12 cases). The slight side effects were mostly gastrointestinal in nature and did not necessitate drug discontinuance. The results suggest that treatment with high dose 5'-DFUR+MMC is useful for advanced and recurrent colorectal cancers, especially those with pulmonary metastases.